It Only Takes A Woman
by Aenigmatic
Summary: [Complete] Another woman came along and a couple of other...misunderstandings just had to happen before Niles and Daphne see the light.


**IT ONLY TAKES A WOMAN **

**Author's Note:**  
_My very very first and short piece of work, first posted on Eunice's site a few eons ago. Written sometime during season 7, when most people bit their nails for Niles and Daphne and started giving their own versions of what might have happenedhere's (gulp) mine. What the heck, I just decided to put it up on FF.net. _

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters from the hit sitcom, but Guinevere is mine. I hate to admit, but so is that irritating tiny man. Obviously no money is intended to be made on this passable piece of work. Please do not sue since I couldn't pay anyway. The abundance of literary quotes come from me being a Literature Freak. The main works I've used are from W.H Auden's As I Walked out One Evening and from André Malraux's Man's Fate. _

  
**PROLOGUE**

_To my dear Guinevere,_

_ I must first, apologise for the infrequent mails I've been sending to you in contrast to your numerous ones, moreover, all of which being mostly work related and hardly anything regarding my personal life despite your gentle prodding. But I hope such has not been causing extreme distress to you. After all, we have moved on with our lives already have we not? Despite the years of not meeting or even speaking over the phone, you still remain someone very close to my heart. I used to think (as I can honestly say now) we both could have had a future together; we knew each other's needs and wants and the ways our minds worked were too similar indeed. _

_But things turned out differently - You'd be surprised to hear, I'm through a marriage and am on the verge of ending an engagement, all because I have met the goddess of my life. And through the seven years since I've known her I've come to believe with my whole heart that she is my pre-determined other half. Hardly the Niles Crane that you would have known in Cambridge, for everyone even scarcely believed I found it in myself to ever make it to the altar._

_The only twist to this fairytale is that the great author of this pathetic story who happens to be called fate, has taken away my goddess and led her into the arms of another man, whom she is to be married to in about 3 weeks. Among other things, I believe we can once again dredge up this subject to satisfy your ever burning curiosity which I am sure highly interests you by now. _

_I assure you that this lack of correspondence on my side since the early years after Cambridge would soon be no more though. You've told me you never felt at home in America and I wonder if I could say the same thing of your country. After your many attempts to lure me over to your frequently changing addresses (as I have in return tried to lure you to the Montana), I have decided to take you up on your offer and without much imposition I hope. I expect that you would still be living in the same place you mentioned in your last letter? To arrive and not find a trace of you would be very sad indeed. _

_I've decided I need a break and no one knows (not even my goddess) where I am heading or what I would be doing. Of course, this departure would incomplete without an absolute fuss thrown over this decision by my family, namely, my father and my older brother, Frasier. But rest easy, this time I intend to keep my promise and will think up something to escape their relentless questioning._

_Yours Always,  
Niles Crane  
**********  
My Dearest Niles,_

_Nothing describes my happiness more than to know you're finally coming down to visit me after all those years. Alright, you've had me whooping with elation. I must say your short letter was nothing like what I've read before. I read it over and over again and the whizz of events your life has taken a turn into has amazed me beyond audibility - your marriage, your engagement and now this mysterious woman who has stolen your heart which I tried to guard jealously a long time ago. It has never fitted the picture of the tweedy Niles that I remember. But then again, maybe when we next meet, you may have found me too different for your liking anymore. I too, would be getting married, but not that soon and I am so sorry if this news may cause your dear sensitive self distress, but as you've said, we've each got our own lives now haven't we?_

_In all seriousness though, you've been my good friend for long, Niles, and I'd fight near everything just for you to taste a bit of bliss in this world. I am sorry for your pain and I desperately wish that the meeting of an old friend like me will alleviate this pain greatly._

_You are always welcome in my home and I believe you have my address from all the letters I've sent you, waiting in vain for your response. It truly appears all that waiting has paid off! After all that moving around, Felix(my soon-to-be-husband) and I decided we love it here. Right now, I will not waste anymore ink writing all the thoughts racing my brain is swirling in, Niles. I'll instead save it for the time you arrive and how I expect we'll be sitting in front of the fire chatting the dawn away._

_Godspeed,  
Guin_

**PART I: LEAVING A HEART IN SEATTLE?**

_As I walked out one evening,  
Walking down Bristol Street,  
The crowds upon the pavement  
Were fields of harvest wheat._

_And down by the brimming river  
I heard a lover sing  
Under an arch of the railway:  
'Love has no ending._

He walked, deep in thought, his eyes already accustomed to the darkness in the usual Seattle downpour, picking out shadows of amorous lovers twisted and huddled in nooks and crannies, caught in their own world, oblivious to the cold and unkind spray of the rain. In Seattle groaned, creaked in a surreal manner and finally distorted, squeezing itself out from his dazed mind. With it, seven long years rushed past in fragments but in unsettling clarity. More specifically, events that he had chosen to remember; events with one special woman.

_'The years shall run like rabbits,  
For in my arms I hold  
The Flower of the Ages,  
And the first love of the world.'_

_But all the clocks in the city  
Began to whirr and chime:  
'O let not Time deceive you,  
You cannot conquer Time._

I am alone, he thought. For a while he imagined himself as a character from the various works of André Malraux, a little game played in the recesses of his mind.  
  
_the essence of man is anguish, the consciousness if his own fatality, from which all dears are bornHe alone existed in a world of phantoms, and it was he, precisely he, who was being outraged._

Or was it? The isolation that he felt today was a gnarled tree with suffocating branches, a muted emptiness that was contained only in his soul. The grandiose of that little act was just another romantic sheet displaying his yearning and deep desire for someone whom he believed lost forever to him, after an insane seven years of hiding and seeking, of heart-flutters, fear, joy and finally, heartbreak. Time, a companion to Fortune's Wheel, he thought bitterly, stringing me on for 7 years of wanting before finally taking her away completely. 

Tomorrow I leave, where someone else waits. 

**********

"I can't believe it! This is too sudden! So this hiatus I presume is BECAUSE OF DAPHNE?!" Martin got up his favourite chair and hobbled towards Frasier, who was decidedly having the same difficulty in believing Niles would just drop everything and move to some place else. It was just so out of his character. 

"I do believe the proper and formal word to use is 'sabbatical'. And I would appreciate it a lot if you did not mention HER name so loudly. And she's NOT the problem." Niles snapped, taking his coat and getting ready to leave. 

"Oh yeah, then what is the problem then? She's out with Donny and most unlikely to" Frasier trailed off as Daphne opened the front doors. The Crane boys smiled nervously at her entrance while Niles hurriedly said his goodbyes and stepped out the door with Frasier following close behind. 

"Alright Niles, what are you up to? What am I to tell dad? More importantly, what am I to tell Daphne? Oh come on Niles, things aren't as bad as you suppose..." Frasier trailed at the look his brother was giving him.

"Maybe you could say little Niles took a cruise down nowhere"

"The very preposterous idea of a cruise if beneath you and you know it! If fates smiles on you, perhaps there'll be the replica of a singing barracuda as well as a waiter who insists on tossing champagne on your face -"

"For once, Frasier, let a man have his own secrets! Everything is taken care of; my patients have finished their therapy while you and dad have each other for company and as for her" An overwhelming sadness inevitably crept over his face as he carried on speaking. 

"Please let her know that I am leaving instead of me telling her outright. It would not becomfortable." Inhaling sharply, he continued, "I have to do this alone, don't you understand? You, dad, Roz, whoever, can stand on the sidelines telling me what to do, but eventually it is still something I have to face by myself." Niles' voice by now had dropped to a painful whisper and at that Frasier's face fell, seeing the acute pain his brother was in.

After a long moment of contemplation, Frasier took Niles' hands in both of his in a tentative gesture of farewell that contained all the sincerity and brotherly concern he could muster.

"It pains me to know you'll be away indefinitely but then again, I am sure one day you'll be brave enough to come home to start again. We're your family after all and the last thing we want is to drive you away from us." He took a deep breath and bestowed blessings upon the brother he so often took advantage of.

"Yes, little Brother, if this would do you good, then by all means. We'll be waiting and take care."

" I will." With that, Niles turned around and left with a determined stride to walk into his new life without so much of a glance behind.

  
**PART II: THE OPPORTUNITY COST OF DONNY**

_'O plunge your hands in water,  
Plunge them in up to the wrist;  
Stare, stare in the basin  
And wonder what you've missed._

She stared, equally deep in thought, looking down from the balcony, watching a lone man walking resolutely in the rain, whom she recognised as her one special friend, with whom she shared her joys and sorrows with, and one whom she'd developed feelings for. Feelings that she was not ready to give a closer look at. Pushing that unbidden thought away, she retreated back into the comfort zone of wedding preparations and the new life ahead she thought she'd earned after seven long years. It is my right, she thought fiercely to begin a new phase with this man. 

_'O stand, stand at the window  
As the tears scald and start;  
You shall love your crooked neighbour  
With your crooked heart.'_

Which man, incidentally?

It was with great difficulty that she managed to put the shock of learning the Dr Crane was leaving the very next day. He didn't even bother to tell me, she thought glumly. Am I so unimportant to him that he couldn't have possibly told me personally? Looking down, she caught a pair of lovers huddling under a raincoat, walking briskly in the direction of a nearby shelter. Just then, one of them slipped, the lady, she presumed, while the man gently helped her up again. There was something exquisite about their movements that made her yearn for such a man, someone whose shoes Donny never managed to fill.

_It was late, late in the evening,  
The lovers they were gone;  
The clocks had ceased their chiming,  
And the deep river ran on._

I can't give this much more thought, she felt. I will now look ahead and with or without Dr Crane, life goes on. Turning away from the wet balcony and not caring if she was damp from the rain, she walked back to her room and in the welcoming arms of the privacy she found there, wept for a long time and for some reason that she could not really pinpoint. 

**  
(4 months later)  
PART III: THE SHRINK AND THE LADY**

Niles sipped his tea thoughtfully, leaning over the veranda overlooking Guin's amazing miniature garden created to look just like an equally miniature land of fantasy. In his other hand, he absently held a brochure he'd picked up from the streets earlier, streets that he now walked along with an air of familiarity, drawing comfort from anonymity. 

In the past four months, Guin and her fiancé had been nothing but warmly accommodating, thinking back to the day he arrived and how, like eager young children, they'd dropped his bags into the guest room and the moment he'd finished with his unpacking, sat down over a simple cup of fruit tea Guin had picked from her own garden and chatted for two whole days straight. There was a rustic simplicity in the lifestyle he now led - long walks, long afternoons in contemplation and sessions of bantering between him, Guin and Felix; these were things he could never envision himself doing back in Seattle. This can't possibly last, he thought regretfully. They all knew but had politely refrained reminding him that he needed closure in his life.

"You really are a different man, Niles Crane." Guinevere had laughed it off in between their conversations as Niles filled her in on anecdotes on Maris and Daphne. In return she had cheekily reminded Niles of their college days.

"Say, can you remember the time someone caught you singing in the shower and placed a hundred dollars on the losing share or the time when some fool stole your underwear and put them in the locker of the then reigning beauty queen complete with a love noteor when"

"I think I get your picture." Niles had smiled wearily in recollection. "Believe me, you've said enough to cause me embarrassment for an entire lifetime. I can never remember though, any time that I've actually had luck with a woman." 

"You're taking it all in good stride. All in good stride." She reaffirmed, well aware of the fact that beneath these funny experiences he had, he was more than repaid in full for the anguish both these women of polar opposites had put him through. She turned more serious then, "But never devalue yourself, Niles. You're a wonderful man and I can never reiterate that enough, not to mention devastating when you wear blue. I nearly fainted at the airport when I caught sight of you." The last phrase was meant to be a quip to make him blush.

"You're right. Meeting you has an antibiotic effect. You never fail to kill the bacteria of unrequited love. Remind me to ship my patients over to you for free medication." Niles had replied wryly, and then gazed at her wonderingly. Has this been the same painfully shy, nerdy woman who was more than willing to make his acquaintance back then? He glanced at her again, marvelling at how she'd undergone a transformation worthy of Pgymalion, finally finding her own confidence in life which certainly added a breezy and irrepressible air about her. Without warning, the uncanny resemblance to Daphne crossed his mind. 

"In all honesty though," Guin had earnestly told him, "I've met many people, just like you have, from my therapy sessions and have felt their own problems affect me deep down. But nothing makes that more fulfilling when you have a person by your side to help you to bear with it. I found mine in Felix, while I really think you will find one as wonderful as you are." She shifted and the continued, "Let's not lie to ourselves, Niles. We're not getting any younger but happiness is not exclusive to the young; I still see your idealism! Forget the wasted years now, even though the heartache may remain, they become all the more poignant when one day your dreams finally come true. I moved from place to place, finally settling here in Bern, where I found myself again. Who knows, maybe all you need is a complete change of environment, another place to move to and start whole again." She sighed.

But I'd give all for you to fight for what you want now, she thought.

Well, what could he have possibly responded with when showered with such goodwill? "Thank you Guin, I will give that more thought." Suddenly embarrassed and light-headed, he remembered affectedly getting up and hastily telling her he needed to walk, which he frequently did now, trying to unravel puzzles in his own mind. You're just afraid of developing feelings of more-than-just-friendship for Guin aren't you? A voice poked him hard, droning repeatedly, giving him the inability to mentally run from that thought, he chose instead, physical distance as though it offered a greater degree of ease. She's about to be married, he told himself sharply, just like Daphne. 

A creak in the door broke the intensity of his thoughts and he was tugged back into the present at her voice.

"Have you seen this?" Guin came in waving a brochure at him. "Dr Frasier Crane from KACL, among others are going to be in town in the next week for a fair. He's been invited to conduct a seminar, hasn't he?" She looked at him, uncertain, gauging for the slightest bit of reaction.

Niles lifted the brochure he was holding as well and nodded. "I know. And I suspect his whole entourage from Elliot Bay Towers made complete with his heck of a producer Roz Doyle will be towed along as well."

_Bring them on, baby._

**  
PART IV: IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR, PART DEUX**

Frasier and Roz were striding over the grass, heading towards the gazebo that was to hold the Radio fair and his seminar. Frasier was already in a foul mood, having found out that Roz had, without a glance, signed him up as a speaker for a ridiculous seminar called "Keeping hold on sanity as a public personality". It reminded him way too much of the last time he was supposed to speak on a cruise and the ugly happenings between Niles and Maris then ironically nearly caused him to lose his sanity. 

Only that Niles is not here anymore to share this moment with me. 

"Dad, if only you did not have too much to drink last night, then maybe you'd have a better chance of standing on your own two feet serving as a visual reminder that insanity creeps in from the home and not from being a radio personality!"

"Oh, oh and just who was the one who volunteered to even GET more beer for me from, I quote you, the 'most frontally enhanced Aphrodite even Zeus could not resist'? 

"Come now Dr Crane, it'll be fun, think of it as a variation of the 1000th show. At least you're not late this time." Daphne put in distractedly, looking around her in obvious anticipation. Frasier threw a glance at her and was reassured by the cheery tone in her voice. It's been too long, he thought. Way too long since I've seen her acting normally and back to her old self. Ever since Niles left. Daphne had, a week before her wedding, abruptly called off all the complicated preparations she'd spent her time on in the past few months and spent an even more complicated time convincing her family to return home without a fuss. And she had done it all alone, that brave girl, he thought in grudging admiration, accomplishing such a difficult task with nerves of steel, even when dad and I stood by the side, ready to intervene should she collapse of the stress. Instead, she had, this time, kept everything to herself and simply told us, 'It's over'. 

Unbeknownst to him, the stress had taken the morphology of a faceless ghost, fleetingly reserving its short visitations for the night but leaving an aftermath powerfully charged with the strength of a tidal wave and leaving the debris of agonising tears. For the first few days after cancelling the wedding, she had sat in her room, her once prized sanctuary, now becoming a cave for countless interweaving of images, drawing her to the brink of madness, showing her its abyss and finally abandoning her at its banks barely breathing, filled with deep guilt of leaving a perfect gentleman that was Donny, for someone else whom she imagined cared for her, for someone who was no longer even in Seattle. 

For someone whose name she could not bring herself to murmur reverently without the dam of emotions held back for so long threatening to burst. So she had taken it hard and at its full blast, surviving it all by burying it deep within her, securely suppressing it lest it creeps out unwittingly. Slowly, she had emerged like a creature of the night seeing the light of day for the first time, into the deep concern shown by her circle of friends she'd learn to call family. For a long while, she had then truly believed that her life was back in order. The clouds of confusion had coalesced, rained hard and finally dispersed. At least she hoped so. 

Frasier, on his part was thinking along the same lines. Madness, on our part, he shook his head. The turbulence of the past few months had diminished and he realised he was looking forward to a time of putting his feet up. He briefly wondered if they were all going to get used to a life without Niles once again but God forbid, he hoped fervently that Niles would not choose this moment to return just as Daphne is rebuilding her life. Just as we all rebuild our own lives. 

**********

"Felix's uncle had never been a healthy man, who knows, living with a wife like that who now reminds me of your Maris, it's no wonder he went early. Which reminds me, in all my blabbers, I never once thanked you for accompanying me down to the gown fitting session. So here it is, thank you so much. This means so much to me, and I'm sure it does to Felix as welllooking at the way you're impeccably dressed as usual, they're all going to think you're the groom instead!" Guinevere chatted on mindlessly as she and Niles walked down the splendour of Bern's fabulously preserved medieval streets. Niles was wearing his navy blue suit and a cerulean shirt that perfectly matched his eyes. He's devastating, she thought. 

But now is not the time to think of 'what ifs'.

Niles, however, was acutely aware of the proximity of the bridal boutique to Frasier's seminar. What ill luck, he thought, that Guin's dress fitting had to coincide with that seminar. Keeping his fingers crossed, he hoped their paths would not cross at all for he was still not ready facing what lies ahead. Probably a bewildered father and brother brimming with questions.

And a married Daphne. 

With a great deal of effort, he put them out of his mind and concentrated on what Guin was trying to say, realising that they had walked into an open park with a gazebo nicely decorated welcoming the KACL team from Seattle. 

"Frasier Crane and his producer Roz Doyle?" Guin had abruptly stopped walking and turned to Niles. Niles looked up in sheer horror and tried his best not to let a hyperventilating session come on. There on the podium speaking passionately about something was his brother whom he had not seen for the past four months and just below him sitting near the refreshment booth was his father and his physical therapist. For a while, he could only take in the sight of his goddess, who, at the moment was fidgeting, clearly bored with his brother's speech and looking everywhere but at the stage.

The immense shock of seeing all of them again rooted him to the spot, annihilating the past four months of bliss where reality took over. It was then he realised he'd never be free of his love for her, of what he would still have to come to terms with the moment he returned to the States. To accept the fact that she was a married woman and moving to some other place in the world would not change that. That would only be cowardice. 

It was this exact moment when Daphne casually turned around, only to meet his eyes.

**  
PART V: EXCUSE ME, ARE YOU GETTING MARRIED?**

It was also the moment where Niles had reacted reflexively, probably the fastest, in his life, something he would be proud of should he be given some time later to ponder it all. Springing into action, he turned around and grabbed a befuddled Guin by the elbow and steered her towards the road crossing, and making it into the boutique before Daphne or the rest caught sight of him and decided to give chase. Luckily they had been standing on the fringe of the crowd and blending into the amalgam of curious tourists and congenial natives as they joined the main flow of traffic back in the streets had been no problem at all. 

He dragged Guin into the boutique and deposited her into the hands of three helpful waiting ladies while he sat down to catch his breath. Guinevere shrugged them off and came over to bench he was sitting on, carrying an unusually large amount of compassion in her eyes.

"So that was her wasn't it, Niles? The love of your life, the one who is your other half." She asked softly, forcing his gaze back into her down-to-earth eyes. "You still love her don't you, watching her with the eyes of a man starved of love and drinking her in as you stood there with myriads of emotions crossing your face." Guin paused and finally continued, "Maybe I had been wrong in telling you to find another place to start over." 

With that, she gave his clenched hands a gentle squeeze and got up, signalling to the women and started her fitting, giving him space to compose himself.

**********

"I thought I just saw Dr Crane!" Daphne caught on breathlessly, frantically looking around, stretching her neck as far as it could go and ultimately standing up with a wild look in her eyes, which Martin took a closer look at. So that was it, he mused grimly, vaguely suspecting all along, now confirmed in front of his very own eyes. It was all suppressed, this tension she had lived under had now bubbled out of control and in her eyes Martin saw, to his dismay, the rapid passing of emotions - fear, love, disappointment, betrayal and apprehension. 

She loved him. The woman he'd come to see as family and his younger son whose affections he'd simply dismissed as mere infatuation. Suddenly the past few months fell into place; her cancelled wedding, those nights of isolation in her own room. They were all signs of her coming to terms with what she believed she could no longer have, of the self-berating harshness in her dual feelings for two men and most painfully, in her idea of closure, giving up completely.

"Stay here, Martin. I'll be back in an instant." Daphne got up and weaved her way through the crowd who was applauding the closing of Frasier's speech. By the time Frasier, Roz and Martin got their act together, Daphne was sprinting down the street, hardly giving any heed to traffic. They followed her until she stopped short so suddenly near a junction that they crashed into her back. Following her line of vision, they saw, from across the street, in the transparent glass window of a bridal boutique, Niles Crane with a woman in a backless wedding gown surrounded by women dressers, breathtaking in her beauty, her face radiant and glowing while Niles smiled indulgently after saying something. And they all watched in horror as he placed an innocent kiss on her cheek while she laughed and in turn, placed a white rose in the breast pocket of his suit. 

**********

Niles had gotten out of his stupor with great difficulty and left his seat to join Guin on the dressing platform. 

"You're very right Guin. I'll have to face this and face this bravely." He spoke quietly, his blue eyes gaining in intensity. "But after you're properly married." He smiled, a tired but resolute one.

"For that I'm glad, Niles Crane." Guin looked about herself in the swish of satin and silk, touching the gown lovingly, savouring the moment when she was finally going to be wedded to a great guy like Felix. "So tell me how do I look?" Her eyes twinkling, she turned full circle for his inspection.

"A vision, Guin, a vision. As always. Did you think Lancelot would have betrayed Arthur over anything less?" That quirk didn't come out as wryly as it should have and he ruined its effect giving her a kiss on her side. That had made her laugh and in retaliation, she positioned the now rather flattened white rose he bought her earlier into his own breast pocket. 

"Now this is for you and your Aphrodite."

"Venus, my dear. It's Venus."

**PART VI: THE UNFORTUNATE OBSTACLE**

"FRASIER! ROZ!" A voice boomed out just as the gang got ready to launch Operation Niles. They turned simultaneously to face a tiny, wiry man with large glasses and a silly grin hurrying up to them. Upon close scrutiny, he was perspiring profusely and finding himself lacking in a handkerchief, proceeded to wipe his brow with his bare hands and mindlessly extended the very same hand towards Frasier and Martin.

Roz grimaced, appalled. Daphne gave him a half-hearted smile and looked as if she was on the verge of running off had Roz not been holding her arm so tightly.

"Umdo I know you?" Frasier leaned back as surreptitiously as possible, desperately trying to avoid his hand. Suddenly a brilliant solution struck him and he turned to his father.

"This is my father, Martin Crane, the man behind my success." It worked. The little man turned his attention as well as his hand towards Martin this time, never missing a beat, still grinning madly. Martin glared at Frasier and gave a nervous smile.

"Well, well, it's truly been a while has it not?" He managed, wondering if they'd ever met before and unsuccessfully dredged through his memory searching for a spark that never ignited to bring into recognition this particular face. At the same time, he pretended to scratch his head for an extraordinary long time to avoid what seemed to be an inevitable handshake. 

"Er, well, you're.you're Peter Bingley right?" Frasier made up a name and flung it at him, eager to get him out of the way.

"Nope, guess again. I called in to your show before and" The little man enjoyed this little game he was playing where he was clearly having the upper hand, dropping hints along the way.

"Peter Bonkers?" Frasier was flatly sarcastic now, his anxiety growing by the minute. He had to cross the street and cross it soon.

"Look, little friend, we're honoured you remember us, but we're in a bit of a hurry right now, so excuse us. Thank you so much." Roz put in, mustering a smirk as bright as possible and began to signal to the rest to cross the road. Taking their cue from her, they dashed bravely across as he shouted, "I called in as Psycho! I became depressed after learning how impossibly optimistic I was!"

"Man, that explains a lot." Martin muttered.

"Sure did." Frasier muttered and remembered they were now standing directly in front of the bridal boutique. 

But Niles and his lady friend were long gone, leaving them staring at an empty platform, and three chattering women as they wrapped up delicate folds of satin and silk.

  
**PART VII: TO HER COY MASTER**

_Therefore the love which us doth bind,   
But Fate so enviously debars, Is the Conjunction of the Mind   
And Opposition of the Stars _  
Andrew Marvell, The Definition of Love 

_7pm. Bern. _

Just how well do I serve you, Time, Your Royal Highness? I break up with Donny, there's time for us to be together until you stole that away from me again. Daphne nursed a broken heart, protesting silently against her coy master, not Him, but that bastard called Time. And fate. Oh and so many other factors, she thought exasperatedly. 

She'd taken the opportunity to evade the suffocating atmosphere in the hotel, glad to have this chance of escaping one too many piteous looks Frasier, Martin and Roz had been giving her. Come to think of it, Eddie was on his way as well. 

"I'm taking a walk to the medieval faire, Dr. Crane. I need a bit of a breather, methinks. Reminds me a bit of me city; we used to have faires when I was younger, me brothers always loved dressing in period clothing. Smart warriors they looked, except poor Michael, who always got shoved into a maiden's dress." She said as cheerfully as she could. 

"I think that's wonderful, Daph. It'll do wonders for your, um... your...dis... um" Frasier could not bring himself to say any word that might come close to hurting her already fragile heart.   
Or so he thought.

"I'll go with you," Roz had immediately volunteered, half-drunk from celebrating the success of this Radio Fest this time around with Frasier, afraid that her very down-to-earth friend may do silly things here in a foreign country. 

"It's all right, Dr. Crane. Thank you Roz." She had simply said and left. Roz dutifully followed. It's all right? Was that what I just said? She thought glumly. No, she was not all right. In fact she felt far from it. 

_Why did he lie to me? Why didn't he say he was going to get married? _

It was not her fault that she discovered the black dragon that Frasier brought back from The Montana (ancient Chinese artefacts and symbols were the latest craze in Frasier's apartment after a foot reflexology session in the Chinatown) into his house, Daphne mused defensively in the midst of festivity in the Bern Medieval Faire. Tonight was its last night but the shop tenders were clearing their booths already. It was just not fair that she had to find out by accident how Dr. Crane felt about her during a back massage; it was just not fair in the way she felt herself reciprocating after hearing about it and after seeing the dragon. Especially after seeing the dragon, she realised, as it pretty much confirmed her psychic visions. 

Isn't it all a little insane to fall in love with someone and think about them all the time just because you've found out they loved you for nearly the last decade? 

No, it wasn't. It didn't sound or feel insane at all, because the feeling has always been mutual. 

_What have I done now? _

Cyrano De Begerac. Her gallant, gentlemanly suitor as opposed to the saucy wife of Bath. The one who wasted no time in proposing when he thought she was pregnant. He's such a fine man, she thought, and now he's going to be someone else's. That woman just doesn't know her incredible find. Besides her, Roz was talking about her luck (or lack thereof) in the latest catch in her life. 

"... and the last time he told me he loved that screw (if you'll pardon the language, Daph) because I had big hips... " 

Roz is one loud mouth when she gets drunk. Just a side thought. 

Just who on earth is that harpy in the wedding gown? She moodily thought. Alright, she is beautiful. Would Niles Crane would settle for anything less? 

Colourful jesters were over the place, some playing lutes, others giving out souvenirs. One particularly amorous one danced past her, winked and dropped a white paper rose into her palm. She saw it and was immediately reminded of a woman shoving a similar rose in his pocket earlier. Sullenly, she stuffed it in a pocket. 

"... that he came back apologising and I could still see the mark I left on his cheek... Daphne! Daphne! Are you listening to me?" Roz eyed her woozily. 

"Um, I'm sorry Roz, what were you saying?" Daphne was shaken from her thoughts, training her line of vision towards a woman smartly dressed in a suit, whom they both recognised as Niles' wife-to-be. 

"Come on Daph, we'll do something about this." Roz determinedly dragged Daphne to a booth directly adjacent to the one Guinevere was standing at, admiring candlesticks. 

"Strumpet. You made an incredibly fast jump on him. As long as I am concerned, not for long!" she muttered with glee, inebriated and not caring less, suddenly feeling charged and rejuvenated. In that moment the old Roz Doyle returned, a reckless Roz before motherhood, a Roz who had always been in the heat of things; a Roz she herself thought she'd be see again. Apparently Roz was thinking along the same lines as her. 

  
**PART VIII: GUINEVERE VS. ROZ**

"Don't worry, just play along," Roz whispered urgently. "Can you ever remember a time, Daph, where Niles ever dated a respectable woman?" She asked loudly, directly her voice towards where Guinevere stood. Daphne got worried immediately. 

"Let me see, the first marriage was an old hag called Maris, whose biological clock stopped ticking at the permanent age of ... oh well, who cares about that right, that won't matter yet, we'll find out just why when we come to his what, third fling? That randy fella never had much luck in love after all... the second fling was with... Kit, was it? Then came another party face called Mel who happened to be his former wife's plastic surgeon. She claimed to be able to see through every fat cell, didn't she? What a power she held. To stop biological clocks." Roz started ticking her fingers off in count, never missing a beat. Daphne couldn't decide between crying and laughing wondering how much more she could take without fainting in mortification. 

A crowd had started gathering. 

Roz, however, was far from over, not noticing that Guinevere had turned around, listening with a small smile perched on her face along with a burgeoning crowd many of whom had abandoned the nearby performance of a court jester much to his annoyance, to watch what they felt was something way more dramatic than those medieval knick-knacks. 

"Oh of course, there was someone whom he loved who never reciprocated his feelings, so he lowered his expectations of all women and ended up with the less than civilised ones!" 

The crowd started taking sides. 

"And the current one," she added triumphantly, "is simply going to be the next in line of the weird women! Let's speculate, shall we, hmm, what power does she hold now, one that, one that... " Roz blearily tried to think. 

"Roz! We should get your drunk merry self someplace else!" Daphne hissed urgently. 

Before Daphne could pull Roz away to a respectable distance, the lady who displayed a quirk of a smile stepped forward.  
  
"Hello. It seemed from your entire interesting little ... speech that you might have been referring to me. Come, let's explore this further some place else, shall we? Weird women did you say? And just whose fault is it, I wonder? Now how did Niles ever fall in love with you?" her speech was cool and refined in contrast to her forceful action of flinging her arm over Roz's shoulders, leading her towards a darkened side of the field where some the booths were already empty. 

_Oh dear God.dear God_

_Dear God_, Daphne thought, this lady misunderstood. She thinks Roz is me! 

The booth tenders upon seeing the situation get juicier, packed up even more quickly and joined the crowd. 

Entranced, the crowd trudged after them, leaving behind only an open-mouthed Daphne who was rooted to the spot and an equally shocked Niles. 

********** 

"Thank you for the lunch Guin." Niles smiled wearily once more. "I never thought Swiss food was really my type." He managed weakly, sipping his newly acquired taste for exotic fruit teas. 

"Hey, it is no problem," Guin replied gently. "It's to thank you for coming with me to the bridal place, though I know it probably sapped you more than anything else." 

They both knew what she was talking about. Why bother to pretend? She and Niles had spent the remaining part of the afternoon in Al Fresco dining. They didn't speak much, though she had thrown more than a dozen looks of concern at him throughout. 

"Let's get your mind off this alright? There's a Medieval Faire and it's the last day they're going to be here. Come on, it's probably your last chance to catch this." 

They walked leisurely, feeling no rush whatsoever, each contemplating in amazement how a few hours can change everything. At the faire Guinevere wandered off to look at candlesticks and their holders while Niles was enraptured in an entertaining version of The Canterbury Tales, until it came to the part the Wife of Bath to act out her scene in dance and medieval tune, composed just for this play. Daphne, he thought longingly, remembering a particular occasion she dressed exactly like the character on stage, a night where he proposed and made an utter fool of himself, scoffed by everyone except her, who, by contrast thought it was the most gallant and chivalrous move he'd ever made. 

Just once more, Daphne, just once more for me, my love, he thought sadly. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a gather of a crowd some twenty feet away. Inquisitive, he strolled over, stretching his head as high as he could, only to be bowled over in shock at seeing a drunken Roz hurling insults at the some women ... wait a minute, she was insulting the women in his life and his lack of taste in them! With growing horror and increasing comprehension, he watched as Roz threw the last insult at Guin. Somehow Fras and company had seen him with Guin, in her bridal gown no less! 

"... explore this further... fall in love with you!" My god, she thinks Roz is Daphne! Niles didn't think he ever felt so faint in his life, but the momentary comfort of unconsciousness simply eluded him this time around. 

It was without warning that the crowd parted and moved off in the opposite direction led by two women with their arms around each other, suggesting that a plausible friendship between them was quite suspect. It only revealed an equally shocked Daphne standing right before his very eyes and he knew without a doubt, that she had seen and misunderstood everything. 

**********   
_Our first confidants, though the word seems excessive, are our lovers, the people we meet away from our various homes..._  
Marguerite Duras, The Lover 

Neither could decide which shocked them more. For Daphne, she wondered if it was the shock of seeing Roz who was probably getting a crick in the neck at the moment or if it was seeing him again that came with the wave of longing and regret that swept through her unawares. For Niles, it was everything! But neither of them felt ready nor up to it in what they knew was coming. 

"Daphne," he breathed, saying her name and nothing else, in complete adulation. 

All that she wanted to say, all the questions she'd mentally made a list of; all that she wanted to confront him about disappeared in the way he mentioned her name. For in it contained still, a hope, a secret yearning and a love so intense she didn't think possible. Neither of them moved from their spots. A few meters away, they vaguely heard grunts and scuffles and a cheering crowd that simply got rowdier. By Jove, he didn't think the Swiss were capable of it! In a dim recess of his mind, he wondered how Guin was doing. She'd never seem a fighter to him, definitely not from their early days in Cambridge. But then she's different now. As far as he was concerned, Guin could have taken up kickboxing and is at present entertaining herself with Roz as practice instrument. He thought he was way past any bolt from the blue, until now. 

Daphne was talking. He snapped back to the present. 

"... wanted to ask you all this time. Why you left without a word, why were you getting married... " 

"I wasn't, Daphne. Not at all. I couldn't, because another has taken my heart in the seven years past. Guin's staying a good friend and nothing more." Niles took her hands in his and gazing at her. 

"I guess you should know, there's no more Donny around." She took a deep breath, cleansing and freeing, then plunged ahead. "Without you, it was just so... difficult to cope... managing my feelings; wondering why I was so blind as to let you go when I obviously felt more for you than Donny only to believe that you were getting married here. It was one bloody pendulum. I was in me room a lot trying to face the anger, the fear, frustration, hurt, everything, believe me Dr. Crane, everything. I've gone though it all the months you were away." 

Another deep breath. Strangely, with each sentence she spoke, her heart weighed lighter and lighter; the relief that filled her never felt so sweet. But behind that emotion lay something bigger, a love for this man that she was glowing with, taking pleasure at the fact she need not hide it anymore. 

Yet she couldn't believe the amount of courage it took to say what she was about to say next. 

"You know, back in Seattle, I wanted you so much to find happiness for yourself, especially when I thought I was happy with Donny, until I realised that wasn't even half of it, unless I could be part of that happiness as well." 

He stared at her, hardly daring to acknowledge the last part for fear it was all naught but a surreal dream, unwilling to face the amount of pain she had suffered and all those nights of woe and despair, all the more so for she had suffered because of him. He shook his head and cradled her face close to his. With as much love and earnestness as he could get together, as though it could have eased all the pain of those months past, he achingly whispered "I'm so so sorry, my love." 

"Don't. Don't be. Not right now. Loving you had made my life a magnificent one." She surprised him, putting a finger to his lips, kissing every trail of tears running down his cheeks, tasting the salt of them, not sure anymore whose tears they were. "I went through a short four months only to know how you must have felt for the last seven years. And I intend to finish this well." In that, she opened her arms and he more than willingly took her against him. 

All that they had shared in this moment had satisfied all those years of longing. Time will never separate us now. 

And in that hug that moment arrived, that cataclysmic catharsis that neither believed possible, heart wrenching in its completeness, triumphing over the travail of uncertainty, anxiety and fear that had endured so long finally breaking their chains over their lives. For nothing could have compared to this, the purging of disappointments and uncertainty, crystallising only gratitude, love and hope, paving the way for a course they were now free to walk together. 

It seemed an eternity before she pulled away from him and looked at him squarely in his eyes. The moment before had shed them of any confusion and with all the confidence she could assemble, she whispered, "Come home with us to Seattle, Dr. Crane." She paused, swallowing hard, her eyes filling up again. "Most importantly, come home to me, Niles. I love you." 

He fell silent, looking down so she could not see the emotions in his eyes, hearing the words as he had replayed in his mind countless of times, a fantasy that he entertained on lonely nights. He looked up a while later to see a Daphne with a face mirroring his emotions in the past and found that he could never refuse the lady of his dreams. Getting up, allowing the white rose to fall and still not speaking, he held her close to him as he turned her in the unmistakable direction of where his father and brother were last seen. 

"I forgot something, love." Daphne stopped him, picking up the white rose, flattened and bruised and placed it in the breast pocket of his suit. 

"Now what was that for?" he asked imperiously.

"Just tradition, honey. Just tradition."

**********  
_But at my Back I always hear   
Time's winged Chariot Hurrying near _  
Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress 

  
**THE END **


End file.
